In a country that has lost 11% of its active population in the space of 20 years, Japan remains reticent over the idea of opening its borders to long-term immigrant workers. Companies in need of manpower instead turn to ‘technical trainees’ to fill the gaps. ‘Technical trainees’ is a term for young Asian unskilled workers. Increasingly prevalent (367,000 in June 2019) and rising at an annual 25%, ‘technical trainees’ tend to come from Vietnam and China. They are employed in small factories and farming units, and their poor working conditions have sparked controversy across the nation.
Regular breaches of labour legislation. The official goal of these ‘traineeships’ is to give workers the opportunity to learn about advanced technologies in Japan so they can then contribute to their native countries’ doemstic development. Nonetheless, according to some NGOS and human rights’ associations, these foreigners often learn nothing new at all. For Makiko Ando from the Solidarity With Migrants Japan NGO, clearly this is an issue of ‘disguised immigration, that aims to exploit young wo
…Do you have information to share with us?